As a means to draw attention to the plight of elephants in the wild, a group of activists have designed and installed an amazing new art piece throughout parks in London.
The work involves herds of huge wooden elephants that appear in 8 parks in the UK capital and includes 100 individual wooden figures. The figures themselves were hand-crafted by indigenous communities living in the jungles of India, places in which wild elephants remain.
The installation, known as CoExistence, was a collaboration between Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective, both of which campaign to save elephants in the wild.
Over the last century, the number of wild elephants in Africa, and wild elephants in Asia, has plummeted. This is primarily due to poaching, the destruction of wild habitats, and human encroachment, in which human settlements begin to be built on elephant territory, often resulting in deaths. Projects such as this aim to put pressure on decision makers to do more to save the world's largest land-animals. In particular, this work aims to highlight humans and elephants co-existing by putting the sculptures in one of the busiest cities in the world.
Dr. Tarsh Thekaekara, of CoExistence, said of the project:
"CoExistence is a call to change the global conservation paradigm. From saving nature in far-away pockets to living well with nature around us. To value the human connection with nature and celebrate all life forms around us by sharing space. To encourage people to remember that they are of, and for nature. We have the capacity to heal, grow, thrive, and support symbiotically with nature, as other species do."
In conjunction with the elephant sculptures, original artwork by award-winning artist George Butler will be displayed at the same time in Sladmore Contemporary art museum.
Butler says:
"CoExistence is confirmation of a moment when society realized they had to do more. And the realization that this is an issue bigger than ourselves, bigger than individuals and indeed bigger than the human race, for the isolated and often solitary role of an illustrator that is a great relief to know those feelings are shared!"
[h/t: My Modern Met]
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